Siren Lake
by thnkxfrthmmrs
Summary: The sleepy town of Siren Lake has a secret, of the supernatural sorts. The locals are nice, but suspicious and afraid of the lake. The mayor, Mr. Castellan and his family have been working to remove the lake and build a new and improved town. But the family that live on the lake, the Jackson's, refuse to let the lake go. And new girl Annabeth finds herself in the crossfire. AU.
1. Begin

SUM: The sleepy town of Siren Lake has a secret, of the supernatural sorts. The locals are nice, but suspicious and afraid of the lake. The mayor, Mr. Castellan and his family have been working to remove the lake and build a new and improved town. But the creepy mansion on the lake belongs to the Jackson's and they refuse to let the lake go. And new girl Annabeth finds herself in the crossfire.

* * *

Annabeth heaved a cardboard box into the empty, spacious room. The sharpie writing claimed the box was full of books, which would explain why it had been a serious pain to carry them up two flights of stairs. At least that was the last box.

The tired blonde maneuvered through the city of boxes and furniture over to the balcony where the silver sunlight peaked through the Washington clouds. The tall forest surrounded their new house. Annabeth wasn't thrilled about moving from San Francisco, but she couldn't deny the beauty of the northwest.

She grabbed her phone and jogged out of her new room and out of the house, calling a quick goodbye to her parents. Putting in her headphones the blonde began to jog down the gravel path that led to their house in the woods. They had passed a few other houses in the small town, but Annabeth was more curious about the town—more importantly where the library or bookstore was.

* * *

The town was sleepy but pleasant. There was both a library and a bookstore called _Powell's_, a cute little café and no Starbucks, a bait and tackle shop, a retro diner that looked like something out of Grease, a few clothing boutiques, a bakery, a sporting goods store, a movie theatre/pizza joint on the fringe of town, a candy and toy Shoppe, a grocery store, a record store, an apartment complex, an inn and a classy seafood restaurant. The schools, elementary, middle, and high school were at the base of the mountain along with the church, doctor's office, post office, and the mayor's office was where Annabeth's dad would be spending all his time.

She felt free in the small town, not crowded or claustrophobic like she had in the large city she once called home. Maybe this move would do her some good after all. A few of the locals turned to stare at the new girl with tanned California skin, but Annabeth brushed them off with a small smile.

She glanced up at the sign, smiled and pushed open the glass door. The little bell rang signally her arrival but the blonde boy at the counter didn't look up from his book. Annabeth relished in the warmth and book smell and headed over to the history section. Her grey eyes trailed over spines and titles and authors, books ranged from the Civil War to the Shang Dynasty to the Cherokee people of America to Grecian wars. A book caught her eye, it was on display with a chalkboard sign stating in bold, colorful letters:

SIREN LAKE'S VERY OWN MR. CHRISTOPHER BRUNNER'S BOOK ON GRECIAN AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY.

The small town had its own accomplished author? It certainly gave Annabeth a pause before she picked up the leather bound book.

"He's a genius that man." A masculine voice said from behind her. Annabeth's eyes skimmed over the gold print before turning to look at the blonde boy. She arched a brow. "He has this way of telling mythology, almost like he was there and is simply recounting what he experienced. Truly makes you believe the Greek myths were real." He gave her a shy smile, one that Annabeth recognized as similar to her own; one that she socialized with bookworms and quiet, thoughtful people. She recuperated the grin.

"You tell me you don't believe in Zeus and Athena and Hercules?" She murmured teasingly, fondly tracing the title of the book with a nail-bitten finger. The boy chuckled softly.

"Can't say I do, I'm a man of science, really." Annabeth hmm-ed in response. There was a short pause. "I can't say I've ever seen you before, and believe me I think I'd have remembered you." Annabeth gave him a questioning look, as if to say: _are you flirting with me?_

The boy shrugged sheepishly, easily reading the nonverbal question. "You're cute and seem interested in Greek mythology. For a nerd like me—I'd definitely remember a girl like you." He winked. "But, more of a dead give away is the fact that this is small town that I've, we all have, grown up in. You're new and that Cali tan speaks for itself." Annabeth shrugged.

"Guilty. Yeah, I just moved here today, thought I'd scope out the town and get away from the craziness that is moving-in-day." She glanced at the sale sticker that had just caught her eye: _Buy one of Brunner's books, get another one free! _"Any other books I should check out, seeing as I don't want to pass up a free book." The boy nodded.

"And your first instinct was to come to the history section of a bookstore? Sounds like my kind of girl." He chuckled and Annabeth ducked her head in embarrassment. The boy coughed. "He's got a couple more, all on mythology and history. All are good, just depends on what you're looking for I guess." Suddenly he turned and stuck out his hand. "I'm Malcolm by the way." Annabeth grasped his hand firmly.

"Annabeth." The blonde, Malcolm, nodded before going back to the section of the shelf dedicated to the town-famous author.

"He's got stuff on Egyptian mythology, Norse, German fairytales, tales from the tribes of North America, African lore, and—ha! Here's one for you, _Mr. Brunner's Guide to Folk Lore and Horror of Siren Lake. _You're new here, you might want to brush up your history and mythology about this old town, because there's a lot of it." Malcolm handed her the thick book. "People 'round here are pretty superstitious, you might want to know what they're talking about." Annabeth nodded and flipped through the book.

"Are you the superstitious type, Malcolm?" The blonde in question snorted.

"Nah, like I said, I'm a man of science. The batty stories my grandma used to tell me are nothing more than batty stories." He shrugged anyways. "But to many in town, you might as well be holding the bible." Annabeth giggled. The two continued to talk for a little while, discussing books and mythology.

"Well, I don't know how much longer I can stall putting my room together, so I better be going." She told him regretfully, after glancing at the owl clock on the wall. He nodded and took both books from her and headed over to the cash register. He rang her up and she passed him a 10, getting 1.50 in change.

She smiled in goodbye and left the bookstore, heading on her way to her new home.

* * *

"New books?" Her father joked when she set them down on the kitchen counter. He placed his reading glasses on. "Greek and Roman mythology and—What's this? Siren Lake mythology? I didn't know such a thing existed."

Annabeth shrugged. "Neither did I, but it looked interesting… I've got to go and sent up my bed. Call me when dinner is ready." Her father nodded before busying himself with organizing the cabinet spices.

The blonde teenager tossed both books on to the mattress before getting to work on at least organizing her furniture. She moved her bed frame over to where the sunlight would stream in from the window and then dragged her mattress over. She then moved her small bedside table and set the books there so she could dress her bed. Once purple sheets and grey covers and yellow pillows were in place, she fondly set Athens the owl on her bed. She pulled over the box labeled as _bedside and other little things _and began to pull out things like her lamp and journals and pens, tucking said items away into the drawers. She reached in and pulled out a framed photo of her mother and herself at the Parthenon in Greece. She pulled out another photo of herself and her best friend from San Fran, Gwen and set it down too. Next came her clock and the little bobble-head owl her mother got her for Christmas 3 years ago.

She pulled out the string of lights and strung them around her window frame; glad that her dad had followed through and made little hooks so she could string said lights. She reached over and pulled them into the socket and flipped the switch, glad that the lights and the socket both worked. Turning it off, she got to work on lining the windowsill with little owls—to say she had a slight obsession would be an understatement.

Annabeth then got started on placing her desk where she wanted it—then filing it out with drawings of architecture and Grecian heroes and books about said heroes and various other office-space sorts of things. She hung up the tack board that was still decorated with photos and notes and plans. She quickly plugged in her laptop before moving onto her closet—

Only her father was calling for dinner.

* * *

Annabeth's dreams that night were weird. It started out with her standing on the edge of a lake, barefoot, toes in the sand and lake water lapping at her feet. The silver moon was full and was mirrored in the lake's reflection perfectly, all the stars and splendor included. The forest was tall and dark and ominous and fog danced along the edges of the water and wet forest floor, ghosting around Annabeth and the water.

But the weird part wasn't the perfect but ominous lake; it was the face staring at her from under the water's surface. Ink black hair, spidery eyelashes, high cheekbones and a splatter of freckles decorated the face. It was a boy's face, a teenager, a very beautiful teenager. His face was stoic, but his eyes were a light with playfulness and curiosity. His eyes were his best feature, how ever, even from under the water she could tell they looked like the scene in front of her. Ink green-blue with dark green edges and splashes of silver.

She wanted to call out to the beautiful teen, ask him why he was in the water, ask where were they; ask what he was—no human could stay in the water like that. But no words would come out, her dream self only stared into eyes so unworldly, she knew she wouldn't forget, even in the morning light.

Full, pink lips spread into a gentle, but wolfish crooked grin and a dimple appeared on his right cheek. She wondered if her dream self was blushing.

The fog began to swirl and become thicker, closing in on her and the lake. Quickly, she couldn't see the forest anymore and the moon and stars were clouded from sight. But the boy's eyes held fast and Annabeth couldn't find it in herself to worry about the creeping fog and even when Annabeth's whole body was swallowed in mist, green eyes kept her calm.

* * *

Annabeth had only this Sunday left before she began her first week at Goode High School and Annabeth couldn't say she was excited to go. Sure she was good at school, she wasn't worried about that. She was worried about how she was supposed to fit in—everyone grew up with each other, knew each other and she was the new girl—maybe even Goode's_ first_ new girl.

She had awoken surprisingly late for herself, being the early riser that she was, but relished in the thoughts of one final lazy Sunday. After this, Sunday's would be a time of schoolwork, church, and other mindless activities that came with school.

She laid around in bed, enjoying the warmth and glittering sunlight that danced over her bedspread. She started the Siren Lake mythology book, finding it quite fascinating and agreeing with the boy from the bookstore—the author had a magical way with words, to the point where Annabeth could question the falsity of the tales she was reading.

She treated herself to a lazy breakfast of cereal and apple juice and messed around on her computer. Messaging Gwen, blogging on tumblr, scanning the drama all over Facebook, and doing some other things of little importance.

Her schedule had come via email and her classes pleasantly surprised Annabeth.

Block 1: AP Euro. Mr. Lane. Room C-13.

Block 2: Chemistry. Ms. Miller. Science wing S-4.

Block 3: AP Latin 3. Mr. York. Room B-2.

Block 4: Physical Education: Track and Field. Mr. Seinfeld. Gym 2.

Lunch

Block 5: Pre Calc. Mr. McLain. Room E-10.

Block 6: Architecture 101. Ms. Corey. Room A-1

Block 7: AP American Lit. Ms. Parks. Room B-9.

Block 8: Leadership. Room M-1

It sounded decent, fun even and she briefly remembered her father telling her about the excellent academics the school provided despite being from a small town and a public school.

* * *

The only eventful thing that had happened to Annabeth at afternoon was opening the door to find some disgruntled punk girl with streaks of blue in her pixie cut and nose ring with a plate of cookies. The girl had been exceptionally rude, thrusting the treats into Annabeth's hands and letting her know that her mother had forced her to come over and greet the new neighbors. The blonde had accepted the sweets, gave her a tight-lipped smile and closed the door.

However, maybe _this _would top some rude punk girl with cookies. Annabeth had gone exploring the forest behind her house and found an old hiking trail. The ivy had crawled over the path for the most part and Annabeth wouldn't have noticed the trail if it hadn't been for the wooden sign nailed to the tree by the sign reading:

SIREN LAKE: 2.3 MILES.

It seemed odd that the town that was named after said lake seemed to be ignoring its very existence. Deciding that maybe curiosity didn't always kill the cat, she made her way through the ivy, following the trail clumsily only to find that twenty feet in, another sign was nailed to a tree, this one a lot less friendly:

BEWARE. TURN BACK NOW.

Yes, surely, this was odder than any punk girl with a sharp tongue and a pierced face.

* * *

**So shoot me, I started a new story. It's different than most of my old stuff, but I guess that's the point of starting over, right? My fanfiction account 2.0. It's fun to write and I'm interested to see how this goes. Who knows, this could be my new Kisses Like Summer Rain or even Whispering Secrets? Guess we'll have to wait and see huh?**

**xo**

**-E**


	2. Eyes

Annabeth was right when she figured she'd be the talk of the school. As soon as she stepped foot in the school, heads turned, voices whispered and eyes poked and prodded her like little knives. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Fortunately the school was kind enough to send her a map and Annabeth was pretty damn good with directions, so she didn't need to deal with any of that new kid-finding-their-way bullshit, nor did she need to have a guide.

…But AP Euro turned out to be a lot harder to find. Maybe the map was flipped? Hmm… She managed to arrive somewhat on time however and that was what was important. Her teacher greeted her warmly, with kind intelligent brown eyes. The kids were another story however—just like in the halls steely eyes followed her like hawks and she awkwardly took a seat in the front of the room. It took all of Annabeth's strength to stop from twitching every second; she could _feel_ all the eyes in the room on her back.

Other than that however, the blonde girl found herself enjoying the class a lot, her teacher was clearly someone she could get along with. And fortunately it wasn't a struggle to keep up.

* * *

PE was an interesting event to say the least. She of course, had to prove her worth to the track team and more importantly the sprinters. The head of the sprinters was a regal girl with glossy dark volcanic hair and dark navy blue eyes. Her lips were pulled into a thin line and barely greeted her when the head coach introduced the two.

Her name was Reyna Jackson.

Reyna's face barely changed when they announced Annabeth's time, half a minute below the school record, which of course was set by Reyna herself. The coach gapped and the other runners applauded her enthusiastically and honestly it was the first time Annabeth felt accepted at her new school, instead of being the circus freak new girl. The blonde felt like rolling her eyes at Reyna—what did she care if she impressed some ice queen or not? She had made the team, easy.

The rest of practice went off with a hitch—it was grueling to say the least. Reyna worked them like slaves or child laborers, until they were drenched in sweat and their knees threatened to give out. It was gonna be a tough season that was for sure. She was just glad that she had lunch right after.

After Annabeth had changed into some fresh and clean smelling clothes she aimlessly wandered in the direction she hoped was the cafeteria.

"Hey! New girl!" The blonde girl stopped and turned to see, surprisingly an attractive guy. Immediately she narrowed her eyes at the tall blonde teen. He jogged to catch up with her. "Hey, I'm Luke Castellan and I just wanted to say, I saw you at track practice, and I don't think I've ever seen Jackson so mad." He laughed, almost maliciously and Annabeth wondered if there was some bad blood between this new guy and the head sprinter. "You almost smoked her record on the first day—you will not believe how long it took Reyna to beat her older sister's record. You almost cost her that mile high pride she's got. Congrats on that!" Annabeth gave him a weak smile. Sure his compliments fed her ego, but she didn't want to be on Reyna's bad side and she certainly didn't want to start picking sides in a possible war. Ugh, drama.

"So, you going to lunch then?" Annabeth nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." Luke grinned widely.

"Awesome, you should come and sit with me and my friends." Annabeth really hoped the horror on her face wasn't apparent. If his friends were anything like the rude, bullying jocks she was picturing, she'd rather pass and pull a Lindsay Lohan and eat in the girl's bathroom.

"Oh, thanks." Her voice was feeble. "But I'll have to pass. Sorry Luke." She didn't fail to notice the dark look that passed over his face.

"That's cool I guess." Suddenly his voice was stiff and had a certain edge to it. Annabeth felt better about her choice in turning down the handsome blonde. He was about to walk away when he seemed to think the better of it. His expression was hard and he towered over Annabeth in a threatening way. "Listen here new girl, you clearly don't realize how this school works, so I'll give you a quick tip. Stay. Away. From. The. Jackson. Family. You hear me? Reyna and her brother—do yourself a favor and don't get associated with them." His hard expression eased into a charming smile and despite Annabeth's best wishes, she blushed. "You'll thank me later, babe."

Annabeth felt the sudden urge to ram her fist into his throat.

* * *

Annabeth watched from her lone corner of the cafeteria, surprisingly keeping away from the prying eyes of her new peers. Her eyes trained on one thing however—or perhaps two people. Reyna and there was a guy with her. His back was to Annabeth so she couldn't get a good look at his face, but he had a great set of broad shoulders and the rest of his body slanted down into a V. She had the suspicion that that was Reyna's brother, the other Jackson and she also assumed that he was just as beautiful as his sister.

They sat alone and Annabeth could just see the ice rolling off the two siblings, no kids dared to approach and the two family members didn't want anyone to come near them. It was curious really; you'd think a beautiful girl like Reyna and the assumed handsome guy like her brother would be swarmed with attention.

Maybe they were like the Plastics of Goode high. Only there were only two of them, they were siblings, and they didn't seem to care about popularity. If they're anti-social behavior said anything anyways. They seemed elite—feared and respected and left alone. Like celebrities, you could only gaze on their beauty, but not touch or talk to them.

Annabeth wondered why that was.

* * *

Turns out that Annabeth has the other Jackson sibling in her American Lit class. And she was right to assume he was beautiful—but no words could really do him justice. Lightly tanned skin, muscular build, sharp features, an angular jaw to die for, and impressive height. Freckles littered his face and a silver lip ring dangled from the corner of his mouth, guiltily Annabeth found it sexy, and his thick eyebrows set up his face perfectly. He was perfect in a rugged, troublemaker way. He was sinful, Annabeth knew that right off the bat. He was seductive and she knew that she was going to have to look out for herself against him. Maybe Luke had been right—keeping a distance from the Jackson's would be in her best favor.

They were presenting some form of free style poetry in class and Annabeth had the pleasure (displeasure maybe?) of listening to high school juniors fumble their words of fake philosophy and poorly written angst. But it wasn't until the other Jackson walked up there with such an air of casual cockiness that was so polar from Reyna and all the girls in the room leaned forward, batting their lustful eyes and twirling their hair that Annabeth knew she was in trouble.

Rich dark chocolate words melted on butter lips and Annabeth knew she was right when she said he was sinful, that he was seductive, he could charm anyone in the world with a voice like that. And poetry was clearly something he excelled at; artistically written words flowed so smoothly like honey. There was an ache of sadness and a surprising amount of depth in his words. Annabeth felt compelled by him. She was entranced, enchanted, enraptured.

Percy Jackson's murky, sad eyes landed on her for a moment and the air in Annabeth's throat caught. Eyes, eyes, _eyes… oh._

* * *

Eyes like the ones in her dream haunted her throughout the day. She couldn't shake them; they were there when she closed her eyes, tattooed to the back of her eyelids.

Reyna was in her leadership class, but her brother was not. There were a few other familiar faces surprisingly, like the rude punk girl, the boy from the bookstore (she couldn't remember his name for the life of her—), Luke, and the Cherokee girl from the track team who had helped Annabeth figure out her PE locker. The only other kids there was a blonde with the same eyes as the punk girl, a gorgeous Asian girl, and another Asian kid with a body builder's body and a baby's face.

She was introduced awkwardly before they launched into discussion over the themes for Homecoming week.

* * *

Her first order of business after her hectic first day was to pick up her little brother's from the elementary school. It wasn't a far walk to the other school and when she got there she was immediately greeted by two cheerful voices.

"Annie-beth!" Bobby called and launched himself off of the swing set and onto the blonde girl. Annabeth let out a small 'humph' as the small boy wrapped his arms around Annabeth's legs tightly. Mathew trailed after his brother in a much more reserved and shy fashion, but he wrapped his spidery arms around Annabeth and Bobby anyways.

"Hi, boys, ready to go home?" The two nodded against her but didn't make any sort of effort to release themselves from her. She rolled her eyes. "If the two of you don't let go, I won't take you guys to the candy and toy shop I was telling you about yesterday." Bobby let go of her in record time, as if she was suddenly a nasty bug. The force of said action nearly knocked poor Mathew to the ground.

She chuckled and ruffled both boys' hair. "Come on, let's go get you boys hopped up on sugar so Sue can yell at me later." The two cheered and Annabeth was sure they would've spend off into the forest and gotten lost, if it weren't for Annabeth's hands clasped tightly in theirs.

* * *

When Annabeth entered the shop, she let go of her brother's hands and let them run off wildly, joining all the other little kids in there. Annabeth grinned and leaned up against the counter, close to where two mothers were conversing.

"—Can you believe that Sally Jackson is _still_ allowed to work here?" One mom exclaimed sharply. Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows. Another Jackson? The other mom cringed.

"It's really unbelievable. What if she—you know—poisons someone again?" Annabeth nearly choked. _What—_

The first mother looked distressed. "I don't know! You'd think the owners would have more sense than to let that—that _whore_ still work around kids!"

A third mother chimed in. "And if it weren't for the fact that her own little brutes were as nasty as her—I'd be worried as to why social services hadn't collected them—" the other two mothers nodded solemnly.

"Two of those Jackson kids are in high school right? I've heard that the daughter is very promising—but that doesn't excuse the fact that she's a _Jackson_ and they're letting her not only on the track team, but on the leadership board as well!" The third mother gasped.

"I know! My son, Jason, was telling me about that!" The mother looked utterly repulsed. The second mother shook her head sadly,

"It's absolutely tragic that they're letting those Jackson children pollute the rest of the town." The three continued to murmur their fears and disgust and Annabeth was left to digest the new information. So clearly it wasn't just the kids at the high school that would avoid the Jackson's, it was the whole damn town. Maybe she should be a little more cautious and not at all curious about the mysterious family. Vaguely Annabeth wondered if there was anything on the Jackson's in that mythology book she had gotten—What a dumb idea, they were people not bed time stories.

A fourth woman walked up to the group of mothers, with an arrogant smirk and very professional dress. The three women stopped their chatter and stared at the blonde woman with awe and adoration. "—Which is exactly why my husband and I want to get rid of the lake. With the lake gone, the Jackson's will leave and we'll be able to create a new and improved town. It's all apart of the plan and once it's done, everyone will be so much happier." The woman's voice was stiff and cruel and Annabeth found herself hating the unknown woman. "Just think of all the jobs that will open up! It'll put Siren Lake on the map!" Annabeth watched, slightly disgusted, as the other moms chimed in their agreement. Didn't they like their small little town? And surely the Jackson's couldn't be that bad if they weren't in_ jail_?

However a man step up this time. His skin was dark like a Native American's and his eyes were a green brown. He was handsome, for an older man and he seemed to silence the gossip with his presence.

"How dare you buy into her shit." He snapped at the women. "Once they destroy the lake and the town they'll change this place into a factory. They'll destroy the wildlife and history here!" His eyes landed on the blonde woman who was glaring at him. "You and you're husband don't belong here. You don't have the people's best interest at heart; you'll destroy everything—

"And when you do—" The man's eyes narrowed into slits. "The whole town will pay for it. The lake will—" The woman interrupted him.

"The lake will _what_, Tristan Mclean? Will the petty little creatures from the stories you still fill poor Piper's mind with come and attack us? Will they rise from that batty old man's book and kill us all?" She laughed and the other women joined her. Annabeth's hands coiled into tight fists. Tristan's hands copied Annabeth's.

"You'll doom this whole town—don't act like you don't know, because _I_ know. I know exactly what you're trying to do and I won't let it. The town won't let you do it." His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered. "Don't think for a second I don't know what you really are—"

The woman snarled at him in a feral way, shocking Annabeth. _What the hell was that—?_

She didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation because Bobby and Mathew were racing over to her with a bag of candy and two red and blue robots. "We're ready to go!" They chorused and Annabeth sighed.

She forced a bright smile. "Alright, let's go pay for all this junk and go home, I've got some homework." Both boys shared a disgusted look. She laughed, "Come on boys."

* * *

**What is Siren Lake's secret? And what's up with the blonde woman? What does she and her husband want? Why? What's up with the Jackson family? Poison, whores, social security? I'm really enjoying writing this story. The chapters are unfortunately a little shorter than my usual, but I'm hoping once the story picks up speed they'll become longer. **

**-E **


	3. Dreams

When Annabeth got home she immediately went to her room to find that mythology book on Siren Lake. She thought back to what the boy at the bookstore had said, something about how she might as well be holding the bible and something about superstition. Clearly some people truly believed the stories told in the book and obviously—some did not.

She was nursing the soda she had grabbed from the kitchen and opened up the leather bound book, settling into a comfy stop on her bed. She reached over and into the bedside table and pulled out a notepad, a pen, and a few high lighters. She glanced at the table of contents:

BOOK ONE:

PROLOGUE: A BRIEF HISTORY ON SIREN LAKE. I-X

CHAPTER 1: THE LAKE. 1-15

CHAPTER 2: SIREN'S SONG. 16-31

CHAPTER 3: THE WOLVES. 32-40

CHAPTER 4: NYMPHS AND NAIADS. 41-46

CHAPTER 5: THE FIRST BETRAYAL. 47-57

CHAPTER 6: FARIES AND THE WOODS. 58-65

CHAPTER 7: THE FIRST HUMAN. 66-87

CHAPTER 8: HALF BLOODS. 88-111

CHAPTER 9: CURSES, CHARMS, SEERS, AND MAGIC. 112-139

CHAPTER 10: THE FIRST OF MANY. 140-159

CHAPTER 11: SEDUCTION UN-HELPED. 160-202

CHAPTER 12: CROSS BREEDING AND MORE WAR. 203-239

CHAPTER 13: REVENGE AND RIVALRY. 240-257

CHAPTER 14: PROPHECY. 258-266

CHAPTER 15: THE CURSE. 267-268

Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed. Book one? Were there more books on Siren Lake? She wrote herself a note to search it up later. She had been hoping for some chapter to stick out to her, but they all seemed important and in understanding the complexity of the Lake's history. From the prologue it is then.

* * *

Her dreams were confusing. Tonight she was standing in front of the sign that said that Siren Lake was 2.3 miles up ahead. It was suffocating-ly dark and mist crept along the ground and in between the trees. She couldn't see the moon or the stars. Her dream self just stared at the ivy-hidden path until a beautiful song arose from somewhere in the forest and Annabeth's legs began to move towards the sound and the lake. She passed the beware sign without hesitation, entranced by the beautiful sounds coming from the lake.

But before she could reach the lake, suddenly a body stepped out from behind a tree. The figure was tall and broad shouldered and fear gripped Annabeth's heart, until eyes that mirrored the lake met hers. A beam of moonlight came down suddenly and Annabeth could see every freckle that adorned Percy Jackson's handsome face. She gulped. One of the corners of his mouth twitched up, the cute dimple reappearing. His tan hand stretched out and touched her cheek and Annabeth gasped as warmth spread through out her body, causing her toes to curl and her cheeks to blush. Amusement twinkled in his eyes.

"_Do not come to the lake, star child._" His voice was filled with warmth and concern. "_Not tonight—It is not safe for you._" Annabeth leaned into the palm of his hand, unable to stop the purrs that rumbled. His grin grew and he stepped closer.

"_Why not tonight?_" Her dream self asked. It was just a dream, why was it dangerous? The Jackson boy seemed to read her thoughts and shook his head.

"_No, the lake—my family will swallow you whole. You must flee for tonight. Do not come back until I call you, star child. I'll call for you when it is safe for someone of your kind to come to the lake again._"

The mist began to lap at Annabeth skin and the cold touches seemed to scorch her skin. His eyes were sympathetic. "_Do not fret star child. I will not harm you—but you must go._"

* * *

That morning Annabeth woke up especially early, put on her jogging clothes and sprinted out of the house and down the path that led to Siren Lake. After 10 minutes of searching she found the sign that signaled the path. Stealing her courage, she began to jog down the path—

Only to find herself in front of the school. She blinked. _What the fuck?_ _This isn't right, I didn't take the trail towards school— _frustrated, Annabeth turned around and followed the path up. It was different this time she realized. There was less ivy and with no amount of searching could she find the warning sign. This wasn't the trail to Siren Lake.

She put her hands on her hips and contemplated searching some more, glaring at the sign that claimed that this was the Siren Lake path. There was a fresh nail in the sign and the tree; someone had obviously moved it recently. But who and why?

Her mind flashed to the warnings in her dream. She shook her head, it was only a dream. Nothing more. She was about to begin her search when she heard an engine and she looked up the hill in the direction of her house to find high school students getting on a school bus. She cursed. Had it really been that long? She wasn't even ready for school—

She tore across the forest floor and to her house. She pushed passed Sue who was making the boys breakfast and into her room where she began to fling clothes on and stuff her homework into the bag.

The blonde cursed all the way down the path that led to school, ignoring the sharp pain in her cheek from where a branch had snapped back and cut her. The school doors were closing when she stepped into the parking lot, sprinting like her life depended on it.

She burst into the doors of AP Euro, startling the class and making her teacher drop the pen in his hand. He cursed and scolded Annabeth while she apologized profusely about being tardy and startling him. Mr. Lane just shook his head and got back to the lesson, her peers however found her entrance and bed head hilarious.

She shrunk down in her seat. _Great._

* * *

Track was tiring, seeing as Annabeth had just sprinted downhill and through the forest to get to school, which was a good 5 miles, all in 20 minutes. Her ankle was throbbing and purple and when she went to line up Reyna glared at her.

"Sit down Chase. I don't need one of my best sprinters hurting herself anymore." Chase blinked in surprise and tried to protest, but Reyna was giving her this death glare and so she swallowed her pride and took a spot on the bleachers.

30 minutes later, the cross-country team was back from their training and Luke took a seat next to her. Annabeth suppressed the urge to cringe away, especially since Reyna was slinging knives with her eyes. He grinned at her cheekily.

"Saw you sprinting across the parking lot this morning." He whistled lowly and Annabeth glared at her feet, failing to get rid of the blush. "You smoked Reyna's record, hands down. Now we just need you to do that at a meet and we'll get the pleasure of watching everything that bitch has worked for come crashing down." His voice was cruel and, dare she say it, evil. His hate for the Jackson's was something fierce; she just wondered what had caused such bitter feelings.

"I missed the bus." She admitted. Luke laughed and placed an arm around her shoulders. Annabeth flinched but he didn't seem to notice.

"Well track star, next time you miss the bus, call me up. I've got a car, I'll gladly come and get you." She gave him a fake smile, hoping she looked a lot more convincing than she felt. "Besides, I figure she should get to know one another because, you know, your dad works for mine now." Annabeth's head jerked over to him in surprise.

"Your dad's the mayor?"

He nodded. "I said my last name was Castellan, didn't I?" Annabeth was mentally hitting herself over not realizing this obvious and important fact. She was going to have to play nice with this cocky, hateful guy if she didn't want to jeopardize her father's job.

"So you wanna sit with me and my friends today? At lunch?" Annabeth gave him another fake smile.

"I'd like that."

* * *

Luke's friends were loud and obnoxious jocks. They laughed and bullied and compared the panties they took from the girls they slept with. It was vile and disgusting and when one of Luke's friends started looking at her like she was his next catch, she had never felt more vulnerable in her entire life.

Luke's meaty arms were still around her and she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. But surprisingly, her blessing came in the form of the punk girl who brought Annabeth's family cookies.

She glared at the bonehead jocks and removed Luke's arms from Annabeth's shoulders, pulling the blonde from his grasp. "You're disgusting, the lot of you pigs. Leave the poor girl alone." She snapped and dragged Annabeth away by the hand as Luke and his friends protested. The punk girl pulled her outside and out to a large oak tree where a few others were sitting. Annabeth recognized the Cherokee girl, but she didn't know the others.

"Everyone this is Annabeth and I just saved her from Luke and his grabby hands. She's sitting with us from now on." Annabeth waved awkwardly and sat next to the girl she knew.

"I'm Piper, remember?" Oh right. Annabeth gave her a pleasant smile. "And these idiots are Leo, Frank, Hazel, Thalia, Grover, and Nico." She waved taking in each of their appearances. Leo was a small elfish looking boy with curly hair and mischievous smile she recognized from her brothers. Frank was the huge guy from Leadership board. Hazel was a cute girl with wild hair and golden eyes. Thalia was the punk girl and Nico might as well have been her male counterpart. And finally Grover was an awkward looking teen with a goatee and crutches. They were quite the band of misfits.

The rest of lunch was spent getting to know them and Annabeth found herself enjoying her newfound company.

* * *

Annabeth tried really hard not to stare at Percy Jackson during American Lit, but the task was seemingly impossible. The class was interesting, but it was really hard to focus when every time she looked up from her paper, Percy's back was in the way of the white board. Not that she was really complaining of course.

Her mind wandered, figuring it would be much easier to pay attention in class if instead of using the white board, the teacher just made Percy stand shirtless and write on his instead. She blushed brightly—_that_ was a bad train of thought.

The classes ended quickly however, but just as she was about to start packing up her things, a piece of paper fluttered onto her desk. She bit her lip and picked it up, unfolding the paper.

_I thought I told you NOT to go to the lake, star child._

Annabeth gasped and looked up to find that no one was in the classroom except for Percy Jackson, standing there with a serious expression on his handsome face.

"Excuse me?" She asked incredulously. "How the hell—"

"That wasn't just some dream like you've come to delude yourself, star child." His voice was condescending, as if she was some little kid who had disobeyed her parent. "I've warned you, it's not safe to go to the lake right now. Conscious or unconscious. I won't hurt you—either will Reyna for that matter, but my family will." He shook his head. "If you want to live long enough to understand what's going on in this town, you'll listen to me." He closed the gap, stepping close to her and placing a hand on her cheek like he had in her dream.

"There's a lot you have yet to learn and I'm willing to help you, but you must listen to me, or else we're all doomed."

Annabeth's eyes latched onto his and she was filled with warmth, suddenly feeling calmness seep into her bones. His thumb was stroking her cheek and she wanted so badly to curl up into his chest and purr like a cat.

He smiled at her crookedly. "All in due time, star child."

She wanted to ask him why he kept calling her star child, she wanted him to stay with her, she wanted him to explain what he met by the lake and his family being dangerous, what he meant by 'all in due time', but before she could even open her mouth and break out of the trance she was in, he was gone, taking all the warmth with him.

* * *

**Sorry it took me a little longer to update, my life has been consumed with projects, Grim and Once Upon A Time, mainly Captain Hook. Jesus that man is beautiful. Fair warning, I've got two more stories I want to put into action, one PJO, one OUAT, so keep an eye out for those! RNR!**

**-E**


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